Cyberia
by TattooedLibrarian
Summary: A ship from Earth's future comes through the Rift that tests Torchwood's belief in humanity.
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

There was a crackle and buzz over the radio as the pilot adjusted the frequency, "Tower 91, this is Cyberian ship 47, do you copy?" she repeated. There was another pop over the channel and a long pause.

"Cyberian ship … copy … over" stuttered over the communication line.

"Tower 91, please repeat. We are picking up heavy static. Cyberian ship 47 requesting landing".

"We copy you. There is an electrical storm approaching. Landing request granted. Pad 12 is clear. Over"

The radio whined and buzzed, in front of them a bolt of lightning lit the dark sky and the aftershock rocked the small ship, "… ship 47 come in. Respond –", the radio cut out leaving silence. In the cockpit the pilot and co-pilot were frantically checking gauges, flipping switches and pushing buttons.

"618, have you seen anything like this?" the young co-pilot asked. His voice was calm and even, but 618 glanced over and she could see the terror on his baby face.

"91 is always like this. Rain, solar storms, electrical storms, it's always something". She sounded almost bored with it, having made this trip numerous times. "You'll get used to it". She added as the ship rocked again. She had only flown with 113 a few times and found him to be incompetent at the best of times and if it had been in her nature she would have dreaded flying to Quadrant 91 with him. But it wasn't. Still, she couldn't imagine how any of the 101 units would have made it long enough to fly in any of the upper level quadrants, let alone 10113 who could barely handle the 20 level quadrants. She sighed loudly, pulling the controls back steadying the ship. She missed 6596; he had been cool and level headed, as most 6 thousand units were, but he had been upgraded and she could only assume they had given her 10113 in hopes of having him decommissioned.

"618, I can't raise the Tower. They aren't responding" he said interrupting her thoughts. This time though panic was breaking through in his voice.

"113, calm yourself" she warned. "They have given us clearance to land on Pad 12".

"My instruments have gone off grid" he was furiously pounding on the keyboard. More lightning flashed outside and in the light the landing docks could be seen, but 113 was too busy to notice. "I can't –", he didn't finish his sentence when he heard the hum of the gun whirl up. He turned to look at the pilot, who now held her gun at him, one hand on the controls and her eyes focusing on her task.

"Pull yourself together. When we land, I am having you decommissioned; you were upgraded beyond your capabilities", she tore her eyes away from her gauges for a split second fixing her steely grey eyes on his. "If anything happens to those Units, I will be sure to let them know of your deficiencies. Focus on your controls". She turned back to her own, sliding the weapon back in its holster.

It was enough to force 113 to pull himself together and start his series of landing checks. The readings were all over as he fed them to 618 over the comm. until there was a loud crack outside the window and light filled the sky. "113, what is your reading?" 618 got no response. Her own gauges had flat lined and buttons were starting to dim. "Switch to manual override" she told her co-pilot. No response. "113, do you hear me?" The shuttle was starting to rapidly descend threatening to spin out of control.

Daring a glance to her right, 618 saw her co-pilot slumped over his controls. The front window of the ship had spider webbed and blackened. She managed to swear at him and went back to work.

5618 had been flying much of her last upgrade and it had taken all of her skill and experience to set the small craft down. It wasn't until she powered off the engines and switched the ship to auxiliary power that she looked up into the dark space before them. There was no tower, no landing lights, no units, no ships. "Tower 91, this is Cyberian ship 47, if you can hear me, we have gone down off course. Our gauges and instruments are off line. I am turning on our locator beacon. Co-pilot is decommissioned and I am going to check our cargo. Over and out". She sent the last transmission and undid the buckles of her harness.

5618 paused for a second to check 10113 for life signs before continuing down the aisle of the back of the ship. As she passed, most of the units didn't look at her, but she knew they were shaken from the rough flight and landing. "Stay in your seats" she told them unnecessarily before pulling the lever releasing the loading hatch at the rear of the craft.


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

The team dragged themselves into the Hub, stripping off wet outerwear leaving it where it fell. Gwen didn't make it much farther than her coat, choosing to collapse on the bottom of the stairs resting her head on the rail. Tosh barely made it to her desk laying her head down on it. Owen made it farther than the rest descending to the medical bay and lay down on the autopsy table.

It was only 3 in the morning and they had already caught 5 Weevils, retrieved 3 space hub caps, rerouted one ship, and relocated a flock of space 'sheep' to the country side. The pouring rain had only made things worse. Herding the purple and blue six legged sheep through the mud had by far been the hardest part of the night. They were slow and insisted on stopping to eat anything they could get in their mouths including Owen's coat, Tosh's PDA, a tire on the SUV, and one tried to nibble at Gwen's hand before Jack could move the electric blue fuzz ball to a trailer they commandeered from a local farmer.

Once set free the five Torchwood agents watched the glowing animals mosey off in search of more food. "Let's go home" Jack said. The others were in no condition to argue, they were all cold, wet and tired. Jack and Ianto followed the others into the Hub and Ianto bit back a comment about the clothing trailing its owners. He hung his and Jack's coats carefully on the rack and then went to put a pot of coffee on to brew while he found dry clothes.

Ianto took a mug of coffee to Jack, who had also changed and was looking through screens on the computer, "looks like the rain is finally stopping" he said taking the mug from Ianto.

"Of course it is, now that we're all inside again", Jack shrugged taking a sip of the coffee. "Is the storm bringing everything through the Rift tonight? We haven't had a night like this in quite a while".

Jack looked back to the computer, "we're getting higher than normal levels of energy coming from it, but if Tosh's program is right, it looks like things should be simmering down for the next few hours".

Ianto nodded, "the others have fallen asleep, so I am going to go log those hub caps. I'll take my comm. if you need me" he turned and left the office before Jack could tell him he should get some sleep too.

An hour later Ianto was returning upstairs when the Rift alarm went off. He hurried up the last of the stairs as Jack descended from his office. Owen swore loud enough that he could hear it from the stairs and he assumed the medic had been jolted awake.

"What is it Tosh" Jack asked as they all appeared around her computer.

Toshiko was busy pulling up readings from her program, "it looks like something big is coming through the Rift. I'm getting massive electrical currents at the Stadium".

"I don't suppose someone just decided to have an early morning football match" Owen said hopefully.

"Not with readings like this…" she trailed off.

"Tosh, you and Ianto stay and monitor the readings. Gwen, Owen with me".

The SUV skidded to a halt outside of the stadium and the three piled out looking around for anything out of place. "Tosh, update" Jack asked

"It's coming from inside the stadium but the levels are dropping. Do you see anything?" Jack looked back at his team and they shook their heads.

"Nothing. We're going to head in. Keep the line open", he told them and the three went to find a way into the building.

Once inside, the small craft was hard to miss sitting smack in the middle of the field, "that was too easy" Owen said, "and the rain stopped. The day keeps getting better. Do you recognize it?" he asked.

"What is it?" Ianto asked over the comm.

"A ship" Jack told him as the moved closer. It was dark colored and in the limited light Jack guessed it was an early New Earth ship. Through the cracked window they could see a shadow moving in the dim light of the cockpit. "C'mon. Let's meet our visitors" he said leading them to the back of the ship with more enthusiasm than Gwen or Owen felt.

As they rounded the back of the ship, they heard the hiss of hydraulics and stepped back as the hatch was lowered. Gwen and Owen each drew their weapons not sure what to expect from the ship. "Do you think they lost some sheep?" Owen asked sarcastically. When the ramp was completely lowered, a lone figured exited the ship stopping in front of Jack giving him a sharp salute.

"Cyberian ship 47. We lost communication with Tower 91 on our descent and the storm knocked our systems out". She glanced around the area, "We were blown off course". The three from Torchwood studied the woman and her uniform. It appeared to be a black utility shirt and pants with heavy boots topped with a black cap. The back lighting from the ship kept her face in shadow, but there was something about her that made Gwen uneasy. The woman, however, showed no interest in her or Owen. Jack glanced over her shoulder towards the ship. He had heard of Cyberia and blanched at the thought of what could be in the back. The moon base would be shut down in 3352 by the Shadow Proclamation and from the exterior there was no way of knowing what time she was from.

"What is your name Pilot?" he asked her.

"Unit 5618, our flight manifest", she offered him a tablet. "Are we in Quadrant 91? My co-pilot has been decommissioned. I will need a new one assigned and a mechanic to check our instruments; they were damaged in the storm". As she spoke Jack looked over the tablet, most of it was not written in English, and he didn't recognize what it was, but he recognized a cargo list when he saw one: 24 Units. He dragged his finger over the screen to the next page, which he assumed detailed their flight plans.

"We'll need to inspect the shipment before we can let you go anywhere", he told her. "This is our medic Dr. Owen Harper, and Gwen Cooper. I am Captain Jack Harkness. And no, you aren't in Quadrant 91".

"Of course" she said. The humans couldn't read anything on her face as she turned to go back to the ship.

"Jack, what kind of cargo is she hauling?" Gwen asked nervously. Jack looked back at the manifest hoping for a date on one of the pages, but was mildly disappointed there wasn't one. "By Siberia she doesn't mean Russia does she?"

"No Gwen, she doesn't".

"But you know".

"Yes. It was well before my time and it's Cyberia – c-y-b-e-r not s-i-b-e-r" he corrected.

"Like cyber things?" Owen asked. Jack only nodded following the pilot.

"There are 24 units" she said when they caught up to her. Jack followed her up the narrow aisle leaving the others at the back. There were 6 rows and on each side of the aisle were two seats. "10 domestic units" she pointed out the first two rows on the right side and three on the left. "6 harem units" she pointed out the next two rows on the right. "2 medical units and 3 carrier units" she indicated on the left. "2 phase I's and a phase II" she clarified. "A security unit, a personal assistant unit, and one maintenance unit" she said pointing out the last three occupants. Jack let out a breath he had been holding. It wasn't nearly as bad as it could have been he thought as he studied the terrified people in the ship, but he knew on 21st Century Earth Gwen was going to blow a gasket.

When they reached the back he could already read every emotion across Gwen's face, "Jack!" she started.

"Gwen. Not, now". She opened her mouth to protest, but Jack turned around, "your co-pilot?"

"A 101 model," she said with a hint of bitterness in her voice as she led him to the front of the space craft. 10113 was still slumped on the console where she had left him. Jack carefully leaned the man backward to see him. There was a back burn across his chest, and judging from the window, Jack guessed they had been caught in an electrical storm that pulled them through the Rift.

"Are there any more of you?" he asked.

"No Sir". Jack nodded and led the way out of the ship, shepherding his teammates out as well.

"They're people Jack!" Gwen burst out as soon as her foot hit the grass. "People!" she rounded on the pilot, "they aren't units! Children! You are transporting children!"

"Gwen, that is enough" Jack said, but the pilot seemed to be unfazed by Gwen's outburst. "What happens if you don't get this shipment to Quadrant 91?"

"I will be decommissioned and the units will be sent to their final destination. What quadrant is this?" she finally asked.

Jack sighed stuffing his hands in his coat pockets, "it isn't. The storm you went through pulled you into a Rift in time and space. Your ship is New Earth?" he asked.

"New Earth?" Owen asked, "What happened to the old one?"

"Yes" she said eyeing Owen suspiciously.

"What year are you from?"

"3176". Jack nodded, not as bad.

"The Rift spit you out in the early 21st century of the original Earth. It will be impossible for us to send you back, it's just too unpredictable, and your instruments are fried. With the technology we have it would take months to return it to flying condition". 5618's expression didn't change, which Gwen desperately wanted to smack off her face.

"Should I execute EP8?" she asked.

"Who is EP8" Gwen demanded.

"It's an emergency protocol" Jack told her.

"What about the people? What are we going to do with them?"

"They are _Cyberians_" she clarified for Gwen as if that bit of information made all the difference.

"Jack, what does that mean?"

Jack contemplated how to tell her. He looked at Owen who had a vacant expression on his face that Jack assumed to mean he was starting to piece things together. He touched the comm. in his ear, "Ianto, we're going to need space for 25".

"Some more information would be helpful" Ianto replied. "Do we need vaults?"

"No. 25 people. There might be space on the 4th floor, we'll need blankets. And can you find us transportation?"

"For 25?"

"And for a ship and we'll also need a body bag. You just better let the media know the stadium is going to be closed for maintenance tomorrow".

"Lovely". He heard the soft click of the comm. as Ianto closed his.

"Gwen, take the SUV back and help Ianto. Go" he ordered before she could argue. This was a conversation that needed to be had in the Hub, and he might as well wait for everyone to gather and their newest residents were settled.

"Owen, while we wait I want you to check over everyone to make sure they weren't injured on the trip" he said taking over. "For now I think it best we leave them in the ship, this will be hard enough on them without making them wait in this miserable weather. Do they understand English?" Jack asked 5618.

"They have been programmed to understand all Earth languages including English", 5618 followed the two men back into the ship. 24 sets of eyes carefully watched Jack move up the aisle.

"Everyone, there has been a change of plans". Jack announced to the passengers, he didn't expect any reaction and didn't get one. "This is Dr Harper. He will check each of you, to make sure you weren't injured in the landing and then you will be taken where you can get food and rest. I know you were expecting to arrive at your final destinations, but your ship has been rerouted and you will be given a new life here. We'll try to make this as easy as possible and I promise, no one will hurt you". He studied each of their faces wondering how much each of them understood. The youngest, who appeared to be around 6, had just been through their first upgrade. "Once we get you moved from the ship, we will give you more information".

Jack turned to Owen, "be gentle with them. Especially the older ones, they're probably already been through enough" he said quietly.

Owen nodded taking a scanner and tablet from his bag, "they were humans weren't they?" he finally asked.

Jack nodded "they still are, mostly. The youngest will be the least upgraded and the most human and probably the most scared. When we get them settled back in the Hub I'll fill you all in".

"That's why you sent Gwen home. She's going to go ballistic".

Jack nodded, "get to work," he told Owen and motioned for 5618 to follow him back outside to the medic could work without her watching over his shoulder.


	3. Chapter 2

Jack studied the woman, her gaze vacant as she waited for him to provide her with some sort of input. He found himself wondering how long it had been since she had been 'upgraded'. Jack knew from her lack of reaction towards the events of the morning, it had been some time ago. During their training at the Time Agency there had been classes on the various kinds of races and situations they could be faced with and one of them had been on Earth's history. Cyberia had been one of humanity's grimmest legacies that had led other species to avoid them for centuries.

Jack assumed her initial upgrade happened when she was a child as that was when most were sent to Cyberia. The scar on her left temple was nearly invisible, having had years to heal over, and he guessed she was nearing the end of her life span – if that is what it could be called. The units typically survived 4 upgrades before they were decommissioned.

"What is your function on Cyberia?" he asked her.

"I am a personal assistant unit for the Commandant of Cyberia".

"And you pilot a transport vessel?" Jack was surprised at her answer but lying had been programmed out of them with their first upgrade.

"The Commandant has family in Quadrant 91. I was to deliver their units personally".

Jack sighed and looked up at the sky that was slowly starting to lighten, "you understand that won't happen now".

"Yes Sir. The electrical storm pulled us through a Rift and we are unable to return to our timeline." She repeated his explanation back to him. "As ranking official, our ownership is transferred to you to do with as you see fit". Jack paused; he hadn't even considered their 'ownership'. This fact would both complicate and ease things.

"Since Cyberia does not exist yet and in this time, it is illegal to own a person –"

"We are Cyberians, we are not people nor do we have the same rights as people", she said.

"Right, but Cyberians don't exist yet, and you are in fact people. You were born human and we are going to try and restore that humanity". For the first time since their arrival 5618 actually looked at Jack, although he couldn't read her fleeting expression; fear perhaps, confusion maybe. Whatever it was Jack wondered if maybe she wasn't as far gone has he suspected.

"We are your units Sir, if deprogramming them is your desire, I will assist as required".

Inside the ship Owen got to work checking on the units.

"Hello there," he said kneeling in front of the two young girls in the front seats. "I'm Owen. Can you tell me your names?" They both looked at him and from the terrified looks on their faces he could tell they were nothing like 5618. Both had identical red scars on their left temples and wore identical grey uniforms with their hair pulled back in a severe knot. "This won't hurt a bit" he promised as he held the scanner up. It beeped and he looked at the screen making sure it recorded the information. "See?" He showed her the screen, "it just needs your name" he tried again.

She dared a quick side glance at the other girl who shook her head, the first chewed her lip and leaned forward just a tiny bit and whispered, "I was Olympia".

"No!" the other girl hissed. "No, she didn't mean it! She is 13546 and I am 13547. We are domestic units". Owen liked to think himself a tough guy, but watching 13547 plead with him was heartbreaking.

"It's okay. Neither of you are going to be domestic units, or even units". He gently took Olympia's small hand, "did your family call you Oly?"

She nodded, "sometimes".

"Well, then you shall be again." He looked at the other girl, "and you can be whoever you would like to be, but for now do you want me to use your number?" She hesitantly nodded, she didn't want to be a number but she didn't want to die either. They said she would be 13547, so she would let them call her that. It was safer. Owen scanned in her information before moving to the next pair across the aisle.

Working his way through the spacecraft he got more unit designations, more technical information and less and less humanity.

When Owen stepped out of the craft, 5618 stood by herself off to one side while Jack and Ianto discussing something he assumed involved the logistics of moving everyone. He paused for a second wondering if he should scan 5618 but decided against it. His brief encounter with her told him it would be unlikely they could salvage her humanity. Dropping his scanner in his bag he joined the others, "alright?" Jack asked.

"If by 'alright' you mean 'are they well enough to travel?' Then yes, they are alright. Otherwise, no, they aren't alright".

"I've got Gwen and Tosh setting up cots and things for them back at the Hub. Gwen's having a fit" Ianto said more to Jack than Owen.

"What else is new" Owen groused.

"Anyway, there's a bus waiting to take them to the Hub".

Owen and Ianto were both a little surprised at how simple it had been to get them off the ship and onto the bus. It had taken a simple order from Jack and 5618 made it happen.

As a doctor, Owen studied their behavior for anything that might help. The fear from the little ones was expected. It was normal, but the older ones, the more upgraded seemed to move as if they were robots. They showed no fear or any real concern for their surroundings. He watched for signs that they were actually experiencing any emotions and couldn't express them or if they had truly been turned off.

When the bus dropped them off Ianto gave the driver a small dose of Retcon and a story about political refugees. He'd seemed bored with the whole thing, but Ianto didn't want to take any chances. With daylight upon them it would only be a matter of time before they had to start cleaning up rumors about a spaceship in the stadium, they didn't need an under paid bus driver fueling things along.

Once inside the Hub he had half expected chaos, but everyone stood quietly waiting for instructions. No one looked around, not even when Myfanwy flew overhead. When Gwen returned from the stadium she had been fuming at Jack, raging about slaves, but watching these 'people' unnerved Ianto. Piecing the conversations over the comms, and Gwen's rant he hadn't been sure what to expect. Although no one had specifically said it, he knew they were partial cyber people and couldn't help but wondering if they were now harboring the future Cyber Men. Given Torchwood's experience with them, he doubted it. Jack's rage over Lisa was proof enough he'd never knowingly help the Cyber Men.

As if Jack could hear his thoughts, he gave him a reassuring pat on the shoulder as he passed, "when they get settled, we'll meet in the board room", Jack paused one foot on the step, "and maybe coffee?"

Ianto rolled his eyes as soon as his back was turned and began herding the group to the 4th floor where he and Gwen had set up beds and Gwen and Tosh had been working on food when he had left.


	4. Chapter 3

The storage room on the 4th floor had been empty for years, although they tried to clean it up some it still looked like a storage room with beds. Ianto stood back watching his teammates pass out food and made sure everyone had a bed. They had set up soft lights and space heaters to try and make them comfortable, but he wondered if they would have even noticed if they hadn't. He noticed the younger ones yawning when they thought no one else was looking and once they had finished he suggested they turn in for the night. He had only suggested it to the children, but the others followed suit as if they shared a collective mind. The only one missing was 5618.

In the autopsy bay Owen watched 5618 staring at the body bag that held her copilot. She had helped him carry it in, but seemed unfazed by it, as if she had helped him carry in a sack of potatoes. "Would you like a moment alone?" he finally asked, already knowing the answer. She looked up at him, but seemed to look through him, just has he had noticed when they were in the field.

"Why" she asked. Owen shook his head.

"Sometimes people like to say goodbye in private, it's… never mind". Just then Jack appeared over the railing, "meeting in 5. You can come too" he told 5618 and then disappeared again.

Owen made his way up to the meeting room with 5618 trailing behind. As everyone took their seats Ianto passed out coffee and sat next to Tosh. 5618 stood behind Jack her hands folded behind her, feet shoulder width apart and against the wall as if she were trying to blend into it. Gwen's eyes were fixed on her, as if she could bore holes through her. "Owen", Jack started.

"The scans are currently downloading; at a quick glance some of them look pretty advanced and the technology is beyond me. I don't know how much we'll be able to salvage from the older Units".

"They aren't 'units'" Gwen interrupted.

"For now, they are units" Jack told her. He wasn't going to get into a spat over semantics at the moment and he knew it would be easier for the older ones to be referred to as Units. His conversation in the field with 5618 had confirmed that when she insisted they were not people. It would be hard enough on the oldest without worrying about what they were called, his experience told him they would always be referred to by their unit number.

"They are people" Gwen pushed.

"Yes, Gwen at one time they were. When Owen's done, hopefully they will be again, but for now you go around turning everything on their heads it will only make things worse. It will be difficult for them to understand what it means to be a person, to be human again".

"What about her? What are you going to do with her? You can't make her human again". Jack glanced behind him. "Whatever humanity she had is gone. Anyone who would do this to a child can't be human".

"Gwen, it was humans who started all of this. A long time from now designer children are common, if something happens to one they can be returned".

"Returned to where?" Tosh asked.

"The company that makes them. Until they are 13 they can be returned. Those that are returned are sent to Cyberia for conversion".

"People wouldn't knowingly send their children to be turned into robot slaves!"

Jack looked back at 5618 and then at Gwen, "Everyone knows, nearly everyone owns a unit, generally a domestic unit for housekeeping. It's an accepted practice". Gwen's mouth dropped and everyone else leaned back just a tad knowing she was building into a fit. "Don't even", Jack said cutting her off.

"You can't just do that to a child! They have thoughts and feelings and should be protected!"

"Children are commodities," 5618 interrupted. "When something is defective you replace it. Why would you keep something broken? They can be upgraded and continue to serve society".

Owen barely caught Gwen from behind as she lunged at the woman just as Jack stepped in her path separating them "stop it Gwen!" he grabbed her roughly by the arm pushing her back into Owen. "That is enough from you!"

"But Jack they're children! Child slaves!"

"Yes Gwen, I know" he gritted his teeth. Ianto and Tosh chose to stay on the other side of the table and not interfere with the fight because although Gwen was right, there was little they could do and it wasn't worth fighting Jack. "But it's not her fault and you trying to kill her will only get you injured".

"She's part of the system!"

"A system that doesn't even exist yet!" he yelled back. "It will never exist in your time so sit down!" Gwen started to protest but Jack cut her off, "sit!" he pulled out her chair and physically put her in it. If looks could kill, he would have dropped dead as she folded her arms across her chest. "Stop acting like a child".

"Will you enslave me too?" she snapped back. Ianto looked to Owen who looked at Jack each wearing a look of disbelief. The whole situation was quickly escalating to dangerous levels. Jack, to his credit, chose not to respond to Gwen's barb and returned to his seat nodding to Owen to take his.

"We are not here to judge what hasn't happened yet. We can't condemn one person for the actions of a society long before she was born. She wasn't so different from those children. The only thing that does matter and all that we can do is to help them settle into Earth and make their integration as smooth as possible. 5618 is the only one who will know what kind of upgrades they've had and what kind of care they will need. Tosh, can you work with her to get an understanding of the technology?"

Toshiko looked behind Jack to the woman who stood behind him. Through Gwen's outburst she had not moved, her expression hadn't changed, and even now she didn't look back at Tosh, it was as if she were an empty shell and despite what her teammate thought about her, Tosh found her to be inherently sad. Stockholm syndrome came to mind. Tosh looked back at Jack and nodded. "Once Owen gets the scans done I can create a file for each of them so we'll have a record of what was done. It will help us keep track of what we can repair".

"I'm going to autopsy the one downstairs, it might help" Jack nodded. "I'll take her, she might have a better idea what's going on".

"Good. Ianto –"

"When they get better settled in I'll have a better idea of how to approach their new identities, but I think for now they are too traumatized for the real world. Gwen and I will talk to them and see if we can get some of their personal information from before they were upgraded and try to use that for a base". Gwen's mouth opened and closed at Ianto's suggestion and he gave her a half shrug. He knew she wasn't angry at the people and once she calmed down she would be happy to help. It just might take her a while to get there.

"Alright then, back to work, Gwen go home".

"You can't –"

"Yes, I can. Go home to Rhys, get some sleep and get your head together". Gwen gave him another cold stare and left the room. The rest of the team stared at Jack; "someone will need to take the night shift later" he said with a shrug and followed Gwen out.

Slowly the others headed back to their stations to begin the long process of sorting out 25 broken lives.


	5. Chapter 4

Thanks to those who took the time to leave a note. It meant more than you know. -TL

* * *

When Owen return to the autopsy bay the records had finished downloading from the scanner so he sent them to Toshiko before starting the autopsy on 10113. "Sorry for volunteering you for this" he apologized unzipping the body bag. "Were you two close", Owen asked trying to make small talk to fill the awkward silence.

"All 101 Units were flawed and dysfunctional. 10113 more than some of the others, he was useless in life, if your Capitan wishes to upgrade the others, he will be more useful in death". She reached over the lifeless body and took the scalpel from Owen and plunged it into 10113's temple. Owen watched speechless as she made several stabbing cuts before sinking her fingers in the hole, a second later she held up what looked like a small microchip. "This will contain the necessary records" she said dropping it in Owen's gloved hand.

"Oh, um, thanks…" he slid the chip into a petri dish, "I'm going to go give this to Tosh". Owen headed up the stairs somewhat nervously, somehow seeing 5618 so callously digging into her copilot's head set him on edge a little.

"Owen?" Tosh's voice pulled his attention back to the moment and he realized he was standing at her desk. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, 'course. Here, this has 10113's records on it".

"You sure know how to treat a girl" she said sarcastically taking the dish and bloody chip from him. "You couldn't have at least wiped it off?"

"Do it yourself" he huffed turning back to the bay. "Noo!" Owen's voice echoed through the Hub. "What are you doing?" he nearly fell down the stairs and everyone else hurried to see what was happening. On the autopsy table the skin of 10113's chest had been removed, but instead of reddish organs there was a mess of metal, wires and circuits. "You can't just do that!" Owen snatched the scalpel from her.

Above them Jack stayed silent. It wasn't the first nearly complete humanoid robot he'd seen. In the future humans would learn to clone organs, and then create new ones in a lab before moving on to completely artificial ones. Eventually they could replace limbs, skin, and everything in between, everything except the brain. Sure they would go on to build super computers that could simulate human thought processes, but it would never be considered human. Jack also knew that it would eventually lead to the rise of the Cybermen trying to create the perfect human and in the end completely losing their humanity. He wished he could blot them out before they could begin to travel back through time to try and destroy everything, but he knew the Doctor would stop him before he tried. There were also all the people these advancements would save, millions of people, many who would go on to provide some of the biggest contributions to human kind. These Cyberians were just tiny specks on the timeline, Torchwood wouldn't even go into the history books so he knew saving them would go unnoticed, plus it wasn't often they were actually able to save something and give it a new life.

Beside him Toshiko's eyes were wide; Jack could nearly feel the fear and excitement bouncing off her. He knew she would love to get her hands all over the technology within 10113. When Owen said he would do the autopsy Jack hadn't even considered that 10113 might not have anything left to autopsy, it had just slipped his mind. He wondered if she would be brave enough to ask Owen to help.

To his other side Ianto stood quietly. Jack could hear his thoughts as clearly as if they were his own. Jack knew he was remembering Canary Wharf and Lisa. It had given him pause when he realized what had landed in the middle of the field and he worried how Ianto would react. But he knew Ianto well enough to know that he would do his job no matter how hard it was. All Jack could do was watch and wait just in case Ianto's professional exterior cracked. As if on cue Ianto turned on his heel and walked away.

"Jack," Tosh said quietly "is he okay" she watched Ianto head towards the cog door.

"He'll be fine. I'm glad Gwen went home though. Maybe if you go find your tools, he'll let you help", Jack nodded towards Owen who was still standing off against 5618. Jack caught the glint in Tosh's eye as she hurried off.

"You can't just peel the skin off a man!" Owen continued, looking at the pile of skin on the table.

"It will be easier to store the parts separately; you need to remove the skin to access them" 5618 told him as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. Owen stopped and looked at the body between them actually studying what was now laid out. He didn't know why he'd gotten so irritated by her actions, maybe because he'd wanted to be the one to do the autopsy on 10113. Although looking at what made up the unit he knew he'd have to get Tosh because the electronics were out of his league and 5618 would know exactly what they were. Slowly he realized it wasn't that he was upset at 5618 for starting without him, it was how unaffected she was by the whole thing. How everything was just so matter of fact, there was no in between. Most humans weren't able to just hack into a dead body, but the way she had dug the chip out of his brain it was if she had done it a thousand times. He didn't blame Gwen for wanting to tear her face off.

"Just… don't touch anything", Owen finally told her. Owen turned to go back upstairs and was startled by Tosh standing at the bottom of the stairs. "Can you just not sneak up on me like that!" he yelled at her.

"Sorry, I just thought you might need some help" she offered him her tool kit.

"Yeah, just get to it" he grumbled snapping off his gloves. "Nothing I can do with it". Toshiko watched him stomp back up the stairs like a scolded child before setting her tools on a nearby try.

"Don't worry about him" she told 5618, "he's always like that". She delicately touched one of the metal organs and leaned forward to get a closer look, "fascinating" she murmured to herself before straitening up. "Any advice on how to start?"

"The breast plate" she pointed to the shiny metal plate that wrapped from one side to the other, extending from arm to navel, the center showing signs of where the lightening had struck him. "There is a release on the side; it will allow access to the chest cavity".

It took Tosh several minutes to locate and release the plate, she had expected it to be heavy, but was surprised how light and flexible it seemed. Protected by the plate was a pair of metal lungs, a heart and several other organs that she could only guess what they were. There were a series of tubes that ran around the abdominal cavity and she assumed they were the equivalent of intestines. She quickly wondered if they ate and how their bodies broke down food, but she pushed the thought away to focus on the task at hand.

Back at the top of the chest Toshiko marveled at the way the metal seemed to fuse with the organic esophagus and throat. It was as if each end became a fine mesh and fused together, it would definitely be something Owen needed to see. "It is likely several of the parts sustained damage in the storm. The medical units will be able to assess their reusability and perhaps repair the damage." 5618 said interrupting Tosh's external exam of the parts.

"Oh, right. Let's start shall we" she asked picking up a tool, hoping it would work to separate the pieces. Toshiko started at the throat where the lungs met, she had never disassembled a body, but she thought attacking it one layer at time might be easiest. She had expected to have some difficulty at least cutting through the metal with her laser pen, but it cut through it like a hot knife in butter and within minutes she was pulling each lung out. Both were perfectly shaped and smooth but she wondered how they could expand and contract with each breath. She set them aside to study later.

Next was the heart, she could see some external damage that seemed to line up with the damage to the plate. What she wasn't expecting was blood to come pouring out of the heart when she separated it from the tubing and she let out a shocked squeak. "It's bleeding!" she finally said moving a pan over to put the bloody heart in.

5618 was studying her curiously, "yes, do you not have blood?"

The question startled Toshiko, she hadn't even considered that there could or would be blood flowing through mechanical organs. "Well, yes we do" she finally answered.

"The blood is circulated through these systems into the rest of the body, enabling us to continue functioning".

"I guess I never thought about it", she confessed wiping her hands off. "Are all of you like this?"

"No. As a part fails it is replaced with a mechanical one, those that were just upgraded will have fewer mechanical organs. As they grow, you will need to replace them, when they are no longer cost efficient they will be decommissioned".

"Right, let's just focus on now" she collected her newly cleaned tool and taking more care she started to separate the rest of the metal and tubes.


	6. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

Toshiko found Owen sulking at his computer jabbing his finger into his return key over and over. She watched him for a minute before reaching over and grabbing his hand, "Stop it". Tosh noticed he had the reports from the scans open in various windows. "It looks like its pretty amazing technology, if you just focus on that."

"I don't give a shit about the technology Tosh. You didn't see her stuff that knife into his head to dig out that chip. It was like… "

"Like something someone programmed her to do?" she offered.

"Yeah, I'm just worried she's going to be the next Cyberwoman trying to kill us all".

"I don't think Jack would have just let her or any of them loose in the Hub if that were true. She seems to be programmed to follow orders, I don't know if it would allow her the freedom to think about killing us".

"Maybe not, but I don't trust her".

"You don't trust anyone Owen. She's downstairs cleaning up the parts we removed. I'm going to go start on their files", Tosh turned and went back to her own desk.

Owen stared blankly at the screen for several more minutes before going to see what sort of mess was left in his medical area. He was more than surprised to find the autopsy table had been cleaned, saved for the body bag that 10113's remains had been returned to. His instruments had been cleaned and Tosh's were gone. On a tray was a mix of small parts that had been cleaned to a silver polish. Another held clean but clearly damaged organ shaped pieces. He carefully picked up the damaged heart turning it over. Tosh was right, it was amazing technology.

"The medical units will need to inspect them for further damage before they can be reused", the flat voice of 5618 startled him and he nearly dropped the heart. He spun to look at her, ready to tell her off for scaring him, but he noticed she had her hands full with a tray of more metal. "I recommend storing the rest in a dry sterile environment". She added, not acknowledging his jumping or death glare, but put the tray down. "I will retrieve the medical units to begin repairs". Without waiting for a response she turned and left Owen still standing in the middle of the medical bay, holding the heart, with his mouth slightly ajar.

Owen had just sent the remains of 10113 down to the morgue, when two more units appeared, at least this time he was expecting them. The man and woman both had the same vacant look on their faces that 5618 had, they wore the same black uniform, and gave Owen the same creepy feeling. It took a second for him to recall that the man was 8337 and the woman 9545, and both were in their second upgrade. "5618 reports that several parts need repaired", the man said.

"Um, yeah" he nodded towards the tray of damaged ones, "it looks like the lightening fried them". Without further information or prompting the pair turned to inspect the damage and ignored Owen. Leaving them to work he bolted up the stairs to find Ianto, he'd have a better idea where they could store everything.

That night when Gwen returned to work, her coworkers could see she was still worked up over their visitors although she didn't come right out and say it. She did give a long cold stare at 5618 who was assisting Tosh with the records. Gwen dropped her bag on her desk with a loud thunk and huffed as she flopped in her chair. Owen rolled his eyes, but didn't look at her.

"Still got your knickers in a twist then?" he asked.

"It's not right we just have her running all over the Hub", Owen didn't ask who she was referring to.

"She hasn't been running anywhere, mostly been working with Tosh all day. It's crazy; she hasn't even stopped to eat". He thought it would be best to leave out the events of the autopsy.

"I can't believe you are defending what they did or her".

"I'm not. I've seen the scans, believe me I know more than you do about and it's scary as hell. The fully converted ones are freaking me the hell out. But they converted them too, it's not their fault, they didn't ask to be turned into mindless robots. So get off your high horse Gwen Cooper, 'cause no one wants to hear it and Jack's gonna tell you to stuff it, again". He hopped up out of his chair and pulled his jacket on. "Good luck tonight".

Owen grunted a goodnight to the others as he passed on his way to the door, leaving Gwen a little stunned. Jack came out of his office and down to the main floor, "I'm going to take 5618 and the maintenance unit down to the ship," he told Gwen. "Keep an eye on the Rift, I have my comm. if you need me, Tosh go home and take Ianto with you", he motioned for 5618 to follow and she fell in right behind him. The pair disappeared before Gwen could even say anything.

"It's been kind of a weird day for everyone", Tosh said gently "the Rift is supposed to be quiet tonight and Owen and Ianto found dinner for… our guests. Jack says that they'll probably spend most of their time in sort of a powered down state, so you don't need to worry about them." Tosh gathered her coat and bag, "but the little ones, Olympia and 13547, asked about you", she said hesitantly.

"They did? Why" she asked suspiciously.

Tosh shrugged, "they said you were nice to them. Night," with that Toshiko left for the evening.


	7. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

In the morning the team gathered in the meeting room, none of them looked like they had gotten much sleep, and were grateful for the coffee and pastries Ianto provided. "Last night we went through the ship and recovered what we could. Mostly wiring and electronics, although the computer is fried" Jack told the team. "We may need some of the components in the future. Tosh," he paused, handing the conversation off to her.

"We got the files created yesterday. They are saved in the secure archive directory; each unit has a folder under their number and contains the scans Owen took, and the forms Ianto can use for their background. As we learn more we can add to it. I also created a record for the parts we recovered from 10113 yesterday. I thought it might be helpful to know in case we need to replace something".

"Good. Owen, what do you have?"

"So they got 10113 disassembled yesterday and stored. Looking over the scans I'm not sure how much we can help some of them. The children, as best I can tell only have one or two artificial organs" he put up a scan on the screen. "This is Oly's, it seems like it's just her kidneys have been replaced and I think with monitoring they should continue to work as she grows. I want to double check with the medical units, but if that's the case it's one less thing we have to worry about. For them it's the chip in their head I'm worried about. Oly seems the most forthcoming with information but I can't tell if it's her personality, programming, or a little of both".

"Check with either 5618 or the medical units and find out".

Owen nodded, "I also need to find out if their vital functions are programmed into that chip or just whatever task they have been assigned to. If they are two separate things," he paused as if debating his next statement, "I am suggesting we try removing one of the chips".

"Just like that? You want to dig one out of their heads?" Gwen asked.

"What do you care, yesterday you wanted them all dead" Owen snapped back. "Yes, just like that, I want to cut open their temple and try to remove the chip. I can't see that it's actually connected to anything and if it only holds their 'function' programming then it may be a quick fix to restoring their humanity".

Jack took several sips of his coffee contemplating Owen's plan. On one hand it would be sacrificing one of the units, on the other it could mean bringing their humanity back. He really had no idea how the chips worked. Most of that technology had been classified or destroyed by the Shadow Proclamation. "Do you think the chip is just suppressing their human side?"

"Yes. It's just a guess though".

"So you really don't know" Gwen restated.

Owen snorted and rolled his eyes, "That is what 'guess' means. Do you have a better idea? You were so intent on saving the children, so how are you going to go about doing that?" Gwen just stared Owen down, not having an answer. "That's what I thought. Look Jack, it could just as easily kill them. If the medical units or 5618 think they are two separate functions why not try it? We have 25 of these things, 12 are under the age of 13 and probably 8 are under 10, we might have a chance at saving them, but of those over 13 only 2 have only have one upgrade. The more upgraded they get, the less of a chance we have at saving them. They have more artificial parts that could break down, and they are mentally and emotionally shut down. Even if we remove the chip, we don't know what their memory or mind will be like. It could revert to the age they were when they were upgraded the first time. I'm not going to lie, we just don't know enough to make a fully calculated risk, but going on what we have, I think it's our best option right now".

Jack pondered the argument, he hated sacrificing one for the greater good, but sometimes it had to be done. He hadn't seen the scans, but if some were as upgraded as 5618 he knew they wouldn't have much time left and they weren't living much of a life anyway. Still it would mean choosing one to send to their possible death. He looked at his team wondering how he always managed to get stuck with the decision. Lisa, Jasmine and so many others before them. "Alright". Gwen's jaw dropped, he noticed but said nothing "Talk to the medical units and see if they know anything about removing the chip. Let me know what you find out. If it looks like they are two separate things, we'll go back over the scans and your plans and decide then".

Owen nodded, "we also have another problem" he said before Jack could move on. Jack motioned for him to continue, not wanting to think about how many more problems there could be. "11123 is a carrier unit, well there are 3 of them, but this one is pregnant. I need to run more scans, but I am guessing 4-5 months". Jack swore. He'd heard 5618 say there were carrier units, and one she had called a phase II but he hadn't stopped to think about the possibilities of what that meant.

"Is 11123 male or female?" 4 sets of eyes went to Jack, "What? They are from the future and when you can artificially produce a uterus, what does it matter who carries it?" None of the team could find the words to comment on Jack's statement.

"Uh, it's a girl", Owen looked through his tablet. "The scans estimate in her early 20's".

"Oh, good, that's easy enough to deal with then and we shouldn't have any problems finding a family for the baby. Don't even say it Gwen, carrier units are in no position to be parents. They are no more fit than an incubator would be, and no we are not keeping a baby in Torchwood". Gwen looked stunned but closed her mouth, Owen suppressed a smirk."Anything else?" Everyone shook their heads and gathered their things.

As Owen headed back to the medical bay he passed 5618 sitting on the couch, her hands idle on her knees like she was a statue. He pause only a second "get the medical units up here", he said and continued on his way. Without so much as a second blink she was up and gone, Owen continued to watch her and let himself ponder the benefits of keeping some of the units as they were. The Hub would be clean, coffee always delivered, they could hunt Weevils. He shook his head discarding the thoughts; these were people who had their minds, bodies and liberties forcibly removed from their control. He may not be a bleeding heart like Gwen, but no one deserved to be treated like a slave. He hadn't said it, but he knew Jack thought it: maybe some of these units were better off being decommissioned.

Owen had barely sat down when 8337 and 9545 appeared, after yesterday he was slowly starting to get used to their creeping up on him, he didn't like it, but he was expecting it. Just as he started to ask them about the chips Gwen's voice rang out across the Hub, Own sighed. He was glad things hadn't worked out between them, her constant need to be politically correct and to save everyone would have had him locked in a mental ward. "Stay here" he told the units and skipped up the steps. Gwen stood near Tosh's desk, Ianto and Tosh in the kitchenette just watching and Jack at the rail in front of his office leaning on his arms. 5618 was near the couch not far from where Gwen had taken her stance; Owen noted she seemed unconcerned about the outburst.

"Why can't you ever let anything go?" Jack asked. "I don't just reach into a hat to make decisions. It's based on information you don't have and you seem unable to process".

"Why don't you ever give us a straight answer about anything?"

"Because sometimes you just aren't able to handle it. Sometimes you get so caught up in doing what you think is right, it blinds you to reality. You are so bent on saving these children and units that you immediately jump to wanting to fix everything. You wanted to kill her" he pointed to 5618, "but you are arguing about possibly killing one of the others in order to save the rest. She just happened to have been the one flying the ship, this isn't her fault. This isn't the others fault either, and it's unlikely we can save any of them and you cannot fix that. You have to accept there are some things that just _are_. Then maybe you can get a straight answer about something". Jack stood up and fixed a steely gaze at her. "If you want a straight answer about what these units are up against, then turn around and ask her".

Hesitantly Gwen turned around looking at 5618 with big watery eyes, but the unit wasn't looking at her. She had so much rage directed at the woman; she didn't care what she had been through. She was responsible for the people on the ship, they were all her _responsibility_. She could have saved them, flying somewhere else, somewhere safe. She could keep them from being upgraded, from the children being turned into slaves. "Ask her Gwen," Jack demanded. Gwen bit her lip, she didn't want to know, she wanted to reach down and grab her gun and just shoot her. Jack could tell from her body language she would never ask, that she didn't have to guts to find out what any of them had been through. She didn't care about the past as long as everything came out okay in the end. "5618," Jack called to the unit. She turned to face him awaiting her order, "how old were you when you were converted".

"Seven", she said, as if someone had asked what her shoe size was.

"Why?"

"My left kidney failed and I was returned".

"What about your parents?" Jack pushed, looking for some reaction in his coworker.

"They were issued a replacement".

"Can you tell us what your first function was after being upgraded?"

"Yes Sir, I was a harem unit until I was 13".

"Gwen, do you know what that means? For the first 7 years of her life she was loved, taken care of, and treasured by two people who paid a lot of money for a child. Until something as simple as a kidney quit functioning properly, something a lot of humans now deal with, but unlike them, she was patched up and sent to a whore house for people to use in whatever sick, twisted, perverted manner they wanted. A child Gwen. In the future you can buy anything you want with enough money and what better way of protecting the 'real' children from pedophiles than giving them a unit. They look and act like real children, but aren't so it's okay". Jack could see the color had drained from Gwen's face as the reality of what he was saying sunk in. "5618, what was your next function?"

"I was a carrier unit",

"How many children did you carry?"

"17 survived Sir. I was upgraded after the last two failed".

"How long were you a carrier unit?"

"15 years". Owen swore out loud without realizing it, across the Hub he could see Tosh and Ianto doing the math as well.

"What happened to those babies?"

"They were given to their parents", it was the first time she'd ever had a hint of emotion in her voice, although it sounded something akin to someone stating the most obvious thing in the world.

"So, it wasn't your child?"

"No Sir, never. We are merely gestational carriers, the children are given to their parents at birth, the unit is repaired and given another embryo".

"Every 9 months for 15 years. How do you even begin to build a bond to build a healthy parenting relationship? They have no parenting skills. It's engrained not to get attached to the child, you can't ask one to suddenly parent a child they never had a say in growing. We can find it a good loving family and it's all that was ever expected from 11123 and it's likely the only solution she can cope with right now. 5618, you said you were a pilot?"

"Yes Sir, before becoming the personal assistant to the Commandant".

"Sounds like a job that not anyone gets upgraded for".

"No sir. I excelled in my previous upgrades and it is a position given to only the most capable units, there are only 4".

From where he was on the walkway, Jack could see the tear roll down Gwen's face, "Gwen," he said more gently, "that is some of what each of those people downstairs have been through. They didn't deserve it and we can't change it, but you can use some of that empathy I know you have and help all of them settle into a life here, even if it is only a half life. So stop arguing and just accept that some things can't be fixed and some things can't be changed", Jack paused looking at the rest of the team, every one of them looked like they were caught in some stage of shellshock. "We all have work to do so let's get back to it". With that he turned and went to his office hoping that was the end of it. He hadn't wanted to drag out all the sordid history of the units and he couldn't think of too many more places that were so vile and corrupt as the 3rd millennia of New Earth. Not even the Time Agents would venture there, and they were the most corrupt people he'd ever met.

Jack flinched when the mug appeared in front of him, seemingly from nowhere, but he looked up to see Ianto standing across the desk. "Was I too hard on her?"

Ianto gave him a half shrug, "maybe. She'll get over it. She usually does". He stuffed his hands in his pockets studying the floor, "is it true? What she said?" he finally asked.

Jack hesitated, "yes" he finally admitted. "All of it". Ianto collapsed into the chair across from Jack.

"How did you know?"

"When we were working the ship last night, I could see the scars on her wrists. They use electric cuffs in the future, when used too often or too heavily it can leave burns, and the scars were old. They made be considered less than people, but they are still expensive so most people don't torture their units, so I knew whatever it was from was bad".

"How? How do people do that to one another?"

"People are capable of a lot of terrible things in the future. They are capable of a lot of terrible things now".

"The cannibals".

Jack nodded, "but there are a lot of good and wonderful people too, and that's what makes this place worth saving".

"What happens to them in the end?"

"Ianto, you should see if Tosh needs any help".

"Jack, what could possibly be worse than what we've already heard".

"The Shadow Proclamation intervened and destroyed Cyberia. Any human caught with a unit was killed on sight so most of the people who had units disposed of them. It was a blood bath. Few escaped taking the technology and knowledge with them. The Shadow Proclamation put enough sanctions on New Earth that it took a long time for it to recover and they did their best to cover up what happened".

"Just like that, they were all killed?"

"Yes, they were deemed not worth saving. I don't remember any record of any of them surviving, so I don't know if they didn't try to save them or all attempts failed, but I really don't know if we can save these".

"But we'll try. That's what Torchwood does isn't it, do the impossible".

"That is what we do" Jack repeated.

Ianto stood and straightened his jacket, "well then, I better get back to work".

"Can I get a refill first?" Jack held out his empty mug. Ianto rolled his eyes but took it anyway, then headed out to whatever task lay ahead of him.


	8. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

The Hub was nearly dark and quiet save for the hum of the equipment. Jack and Ianto had left hours ago to go Weevil hunting and Owen had waved them off not wanting to even know where they might actually be going. He was still sitting at his computer going over the new scans they had taken of 7494. Owen knew no matter how much longer he stared at them it wasn't going to improve their chances in the morning of successfully removing the chip.

The medical units had provided the necessary information on how the microchip worked. It contained all the programming needed to perform whatever task a unit had been assigned. An incision was made in the temple, the chip inserted and then closed. Once their task was assigned, upgrades could be performed externally much like the current RFID, when a new assignment was given that information was added on top of their former skills. The rest was simple conditioning to make them think they were no longer human. The domestic units' upgrades weren't complete until they arrived at their designated site when they would be given specific instructions on how that location should be taken care of. Without complete programming they may still be able to reach the children.

That bit of information had come as a bit of relief to Owen, it could mean their 10 domestic units, who were all under 13, may still be helped. Each unit's personality was overridden by whatever new program they had been given essentially burying their humanity and it explained why 5618 had seemed so unaffected by everything. It wasn't that she couldn't feel anything for those around her; she was just unable to process or express anything but her assigned duties. For all he knew, behind her dead eyes was a tortured 7 year old little girl crying for help. When they had told 7494 of what they would be doing he had given them the same flat expression, but Owen wondered if he was stressed over the whole situation and panicking that he may not recover.

But first they had to get through tomorrow's surgery before they could focus on the next steps. Even with the odds stacked against them, he didn't want to screw up. Losing a patient was never easy. Owen sighed and picked up his mug, only to find it had been emptied. Maybe it was just time to call it a night. He was in the process of closing the open files when a pair of brown eyes and a nose appeared at the edge of his desk, just barely looking over the top. "Olympia" he exhaled, "aren't you supposed to be sleeping?"

The little girl came around the side to stand beside Owen, "I couldn't sleep" she confessed.

"Why not?" she shrugged her shoulders, "bad dreams? Are you cold?"

She shook her head no, "I don't have dreams any more. Dr Owen, is it true you are going to fix us?" Owen turned in his chair to look at her, "I heard some of the others say you were going to fix us".

"I don't know Oly, we're going to try" he admitted.

"Are you going to fix us like they did on Cyberia?"

"No. What they did was very wrong".

"I don't want to be a Cyberian" Olympia said quietly.

Owen reached down and gathered her up into his arms and pulled her close, "I promise you won't be a Cyberian", she tucked her head under Owen's chin huddling in close.

"What about when we get to our assignments?"

"There aren't any assignments. You are safe here. You've traveled so far back in time that you landed on the original Earth, there is no Cyberia and no Cyberians. Just people who want to help you and once we figure out how to do that, we can find you a nice family who will look after you and when you grow up you can be whatever you want to be".

"Can I stay here with you? Everyone is nice here".

"Oh no, there are much better places than this. There are families, with houses and yards to play in".

"Are there puppies? We got a puppy just before…"

"There are all kinds of puppies", Owen leaned forward pulling his keyboard closer and pulled up videos of puppies on youtube. The pair sat and watched so many videos Owen was sure his eyes were going to bleed from the cuteness, but Olympia giggled at all of them and he didn't want to take that away from her. Maybe he could fix them all with viral videos, if only it could be that easy. Jack and Ianto returned and both looked at him as if he had grown a second head, and considering where they worked that was saying a lot.

While they continued to watch the puppies and then kittens, Ianto brought over a fresh mug of coffee of Owen and hot chocolate and cookies for Olympia, despite the fact it was nearly 3am. At some point Owen fell asleep and didn't realize it until he was startled out of his sleep and found he was asleep in his chair and Oly was missing. He jumped up looking around for her and ran face first into Jack. Jack put a hand on his shoulder steadying him, "easy. She fell asleep about an hour ago and I took her back to bed".

Owen scrubbed his hands over his face as if he could erase the panic, "Jesus Jack, I nearly had a stroke". He ran his hand over the back of his neck, "it was like I was caught in my own mind and couldn't get out, but could see everything happening around me".

"You're lucky you didn't end up on the floor. It's nearly 6 if you want to go home and clean up".

"Yeah, yeah" he pulled on his jacket and turned off the monitor and started to walk off, "Jack, we don't need to tell the others about this".

"Tell the others that our cold hearted bastard Owen has a soft spot for kittens, puppies and little girls? Never. Your secret is safe with me" Owen nodded and hurried out of the Hub.

Hours later Owen returned showered but looked haggard, "busy night?" Gwen asked coyly.

"Yeah. Tosh, I'm going to get stuff prepped, if you want to bring up 7494. Let's get this over with". Tosh nodded, she too had been awake most of the night as well worrying about the surgery they were about to perform. Both agents headed in separate directions leaving Gwen on her own. They hadn't meant to leave her out, but they all had things to take care of involving the Cyberians and didn't have time for her opinions and after the previous day they each took care to avoid her.

When Tosh returned with 7494, Gwen realized that Jack must have authorized them to perform surgery on him. She started to open her mouth to protest, but Tosh glared at her, and she tried to remember what Jack had said. A half life was still better than none and they were about to take that away from him. Hadn't he asked her to help them settle into that life? Gwen noticed Ianto had come down stairs from Jack's office with a stack of folders and put them on Tosh's desk. "You're going to catch flies" he said.

Gwen snapped her mouth shut; "I can't believe they are just going to…" she waved in the general direction of the medical area, "Jack approved this?"

"Yes. Yesterday, Tosh and Owen went over the best options for surgery and talked to 7494 and the medical units".

"And you're okay with this?" Ianto sort of gave her a shrug of indifference, "after everything you did for Lisa you approve of what they are about to do?" she pushed.

"Yes. Because there was nothing left of Lisa to save, I thought there was, but I was wrong. She never had a chance and if she had, it would have been a life of being a half converted cyber person, she is better off dead. Jack made a decision then and he's made this one, and he was right both times. And don't you dare bring Lisa up again. Ever" Ianto turned and went back up to Jack's office to let him know that Owen and Tosh were about to start with the surgery.

Owen hated head wounds, they always bled excessively and made everything look worse than it really was, but for not being a nurse Tosh was doing her best. An extra set of hands would have been helpful but he wasn't about to ask Gwen to help. Once he had gotten the side of the man's head open they could clearly see a metal sliver wedged in the bone of his skull. They had seen it on the scans they had taken but they hadn't been able to tell if it had been fused to the bone or was just stuck in there. 5618 had been too quick to remove the last one he hadn't gotten a good look at it. Even the medical units hadn't been certain. The planting of chips was only performed by humans.

"What do you think?" Tosh asked, mopping up the blood that had surfaced around it. Owen poked at it a little to see if it had any give.

"Gimme the tweezers" he held out a hand for them. "You're a terrible nurse, but I think-" he paused mid-sentence focusing on his task. "I think it's that easy", he straightened up holding the chip between the tweezers. Tosh held out a dish for the chip and Owen dropped it in and handed her the tweezers. "I also think I am going to leave that hole alone, it's so thin the bone should grow closed and it would be better than anything artificial, so let's get this closed".

Toshiko handed him the threaded needle, "why didn't we use the laser saw again?"

"The same reason we didn't use the singularity scalpel, because I don't want to fry his brain by accidentally. How are his vitals?"

"They look good; everything looks within a normal range". They finished closing the wound and bandaged 7494's head, then left him to recover from the anesthetic.

A half hour later he started to come too and Owen, Jack and Toshiko were all waiting. "How are you feeling?" Owen asked shining a light in one eye and then the other, "responses look good".

"I don't know" the unit said.

"Sorry, we don't have the technology you do. You are going to be sore and groggy, but you shouldn't be in pain. Let me know if you are and we can give you something".

"No pain".

"Good. Get some rest and I'll check on you in a bit", Owen pushed Jack and Tosh up the stairs.

"Did it work?" Jack asked.

"I think it's too soon to tell. His primary functions are still working, so that is good. We'll have to wait for the rest of the anesthetic to wear off before we can really check his memory. He could use some quiet and rest for now, and I'll keep you posted".

"Good work guys. Get some coffee", they did as they were told and then each went back to their stations to wait for 7494 to recover enough to talk to.


End file.
